10th Grade — Unit 9: Photoshop Production Projects: Ink Portrait

🗓️ Before Class: Teacher Prep

Gather/set out: Computer with Photoshop, Teacher-provided portrait + texture images (project 1), Self-sourced portrait + texture images, checked against copyright rules (project 2).
If today includes physical/hands-on work: make sure the classroom cameras are charged, working, and have a cleared SD card ready for photo uploads.
Pull up today's slide deck (see 🖥️ Slide Deck below) so it's ready to project.

🖥️ Slide Deck (project or share with students)

Short, on-the-board pacing slides for today's Do Now, agenda, vocabulary, and exit ticket -- the full detail lives in the handout above, not here.

🧑‍🏫 Substitute Teacher Guide

A scripted, step-by-step runsheet for today's class -- hand this to anyone covering the room who doesn't know the daily routine.

🎯 Essential Question

How do we combine images using selections, masking, and layer opacity to create a stylized ink portrait?

📈 Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson (3 Days), students will be able to:

Use the selection tool to isolate a subject from its background.
Apply a layer mask to blend a portrait with a second, textured image.
Adjust layer opacity to control how strongly two images blend together.

📐 Standards Alignment

CDOS (Career Development & Occupational Studies)

CDOS 2 — Integrated Learning -- students will demonstrate how academic knowledge and skills are applied in the workplace and other settings.
CDOS 3a — Universal Foundation Skills -- basic literacy, communication, and problem-solving skills required for a career.

ACP (Adobe Certified Professional) Photoshop Exam Objectives

ACP 3.1 — Use layers to manage design elements.
ACP 3.2 — Modify layer visibility using opacity, blending modes, and masks.
ACP 4.3 — Make, manage, and manipulate selections.

🎓 Study this for the ACP exam: Domain 3: Organizing Documents · Domain 4: Creating and Modifying Visual Elements

📚 Key Vocabulary

Selection Tool: A tool used to isolate part of an image so edits only affect that area.
Layer Mask: A non-destructive way to hide or reveal parts of a layer without deleting any pixels.
Layer Opacity: How transparent or solid a layer appears; lowering it blends layers together.

🧰 Materials & Tools

Computer with Photoshop
Teacher-provided portrait + texture images (project 1)
Self-sourced portrait + texture images, checked against copyright rules (project 2)

🧠 Do Now (Warm-Up)

Look at the example ink portrait on the board. Which parts do you think are the original photo, and which parts were added?

📤 How You Submit This — For Credit

How you submit today's work depends on what kind of work it was. Physical/paper work (most of this semester so far): photograph it with a classroom camera, upload the photo from its SD card onto a computer, and save it into your portfolio -- that upload is your submission, and the physical piece itself is yours to keep, the same as in Grade 9 (your notebook is the one thing with a home base in the room, and even that's your call to bring home when you want it). Digital work (once you're producing files in Photoshop, second semester on): no camera needed -- instead, EXPORT the file. Export your finished project as a JPG, as a PNG, AND save a copy as a PSD (all three), then upload all three into your portfolio. Either way: the portfolio upload, with a description, is what actually counts as turning the assignment in for credit.

📁 Portfolio Update — Once a Week

Once a week, add your best finished or in-progress piece to your portfolio (the Google Drive folder you started in Grade 9, becoming your Google Sites portfolio in Lesson 10) with a 1-2 sentence caption: what it is, what tool/skill it used, and one thing you learned. Keep it current -- don't save it all for the portfolio-website lesson.

✍️ Example description for your Google Sites portfolio (fill in YOUR blanks -- don't just copy this):

For this piece, I made ______________ (name what you made) for “Ink Portrait.” This project asked: “How do we combine images using selections, masking, and layer opacity to create a stylized ink portrait?” I used Selection Tool by ______________ (explain how you used it in THIS piece). The hardest part was ______________, and I solved it by ______________. I'm proud of ______________ because ______________.

📋 Main Workshop / Lesson Sequence

This lesson spans 3 Days. Suggested pacing:

Day	Focus	Plan
Day 1	Guided Project	Do Now (5 min): what do you think a "layer mask" does? Mini-lesson/demo (10 min): demo the selection tool and layer masking. Guided practice (25 min): using teacher-provided images, practice the selection tool, apply a layer mask to blend a portrait with a textured "ink" image, and adjust opacity. Save progress (5 min).
Day 2	Independent Project	Do Now (5 min): what images will you use for your own version? Independent work (35 min): repeat the process with your own self-found images, checked against copyright guidelines. Save progress (5 min).
Day 3	Finalize & Critique	Do Now (5 min): compare your teacher-provided version and your own version -- which blends better, and why? Peer critique (10 min): feedback on how convincingly the two images blend. Final adjustments (20 min): revise. Export (10 min).

✅ Assessment & Exit Ticket

Both ink portrait versions scored with a rubric: clean selection, effective mask blending, and appropriate opacity use.

Exit Ticket: Explain, in your own words, what a layer mask does that simply deleting part of an image does not.

📊 Pull up the anonymous Class Check-In for students to fill out before they go.

🧩 Differentiation & Accommodations

English Language Learners: provide translated or bilingual glossaries, visuals, and sentence frames; pair with a peer for meaningful participation. Students with IEPs: provide extended time, step-by-step checklists, and one-on-one or small-group support as specified in each student's plan. Attention-related needs: break the task into smaller steps, use visual timers, and minimize distractions. Students who finish early: extend the task by adding a second design variation, mentoring a classmate, or writing a short reflection connecting today's skill to a career pathway.